Top-seeded Diana Shnaider of Russia moved forward to the final of the Hungarian Grand Prix with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Germany’s Eva Lys on Saturday in Budapest.
Shnaider, at 20 years old, managed to save all three break points she encountered and capitalised on four double faults by her opponent to defeat Lys in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
On Sunday, Shnaider will compete for her third title of the year against unseeded Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who overcame a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia.
Sasnovich battled through 17 double faults and rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the third set to surprise Schmiedlova in a match that lasted 2 hours and 46 minutes.
Palermo Ladies Open
Top-seeded Qinwen Zheng of China secured a 7-5, 6-4 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Diane Parry of France to advance to the final in Italy.
Zheng will go up against second-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the championship match. Zheng is the reigning champion.
Zheng successfully defended 3 out of 4 break points and secured 84.8 percent (28 out of 33) of her first-serve points. Parry managed to save 2 out of 5 break points and achieved a 69.4 percent (25 out of 36) success rate on her first serves. Muchova triumphed over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu with a decisive 6-1, 6-1 victory in the semifinals. Muchova also had a 4-0 lead in aces against Begu, who was the champion in 2022.
